


tick tock

by not_your_tinkerbell



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2018-12-25 18:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12041682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_your_tinkerbell/pseuds/not_your_tinkerbell
Summary: Kuroko has come to admire a famous singer who existed more than twenty years ago, Akashi, who has long disappeared.





	1. a boundless train

When Kuroko was about to shut his eyes close to take a short nap on the train, his mom, who’d noticed his sleepy state, quickly handed him a bottle of water as she patted him on the cheek, shaking her head lightly, “Don’t sleep here, Tetsuya. Wait until we get there. We’ll arrive soon.”

Kuroko had to pry his eyes open again, and he reluctantly nodded, taking a large sip on his bottle of water to wash away the sleepiness.

He, together with his mom, had to return back to the town to persuade his grandma to stay with them in the city. His grandma was very stubborn; on the phone, she’d insisted that she would just stay there in order to keep his late grandpa company. And, because his parents knew how much his grandma loved Kuroko, they’d decided to bring him to her, hoping that he could help them convince her to live with them.  

Kuroko had spent the majority of his childhood years living with his grandparents. However, because of his parents’ work, he had to follow them to transfer to another country. And now, looking at the lush green fields outside the train had reminded him of his childhood days—it kind of brought him back to his old memories; the air, the fragrance, the view. 

The air in the small town was particularly good. Each house had its own distinguishing features, Kuroko had taken out his camera to take pictures of it all the whole journey, and he found that many people were greeting his mom as they walked past them; especially cordial.

When they arrived at his grandma’s, it was around afternoon. The weather was stifling hot, and grandma had come out to help them open the door, bringing two bowls of mung bean soup for Kuroko and his mom. 

“I miss you, grandma,” Kuroko said, hugging his grandma tightly, and grandma stroke his head affectionately, pulling him into the house.

“Tetsuya’s college entrance exam is over, right?”

Kuroko nodded as he drank the mung bean soup, “It’s over.”

“Our Tetsuya is sure to do well in his exams, so there’s nothing to worry about.” His grandma smiled brightly, taking the bowl Kuroko was holding and put it back on the table. She took his hand, and pointed to the upstairs. “Tetsuya is staying in your mom’s old room. Your grandpa used to have an air-conditioner in there; it’s pleasantly cool.”

Kuroko nodded again as he raised his bag from the ground, following his grandma upstairs. Downstairs, his mom called out: “Don’t you touch my things!”

“They’re only small things. There’s nothing valuable.” His grandma had assured him. However, his mom seemed to have heard it and gave her complain as she put her luggage on the sofa to tidy up. 

“That’s your mom’s memories of teenage years! Don’t listen to your grandma. Just don’t touch anything!”

Kuroko thought to himself, _please, mom, I’m a boy. I have nothing to do with your “girly” things._ However, he didn’t expect that, once the door to his mom’s room was opened, he’d get shocked at the layout of the room and the arrangement of the furnishings. 

The memories of his childhood were a bit hazy. He only remembered that he’d been sleeping on a small bed in his grandparents’ room, and he didn’t recall that there was such a room in the house. The room was small, with an old tape recorder and neatly arranged tapes on the desk. Kuroko found posters of celebrities on the walls—men, and women. They were all wearing retro clothes, and it somewhat looked a little funny for someone his age. 

In short, his mom must’ve been a bit of a crazy fan back then. 

 

In the small town, it wasn’t as lively as it was in the city, and Kuroko could clearly feel the differences between the town and the city. He’d also acquired the habit of walking everyday. Occasionally, he’d go to the neighboring town to buy some food, and the days were spent tolerably well, although there was no computer, but his grandparents had collected a lot of books, so he’d also begun to read all the stories his grandpa used to read for him before he slept when he was a kid.

One evening, Kuroko was lying down on the bed to read a novel. When he looked up to rest for a bit, his gaze fell on a row of old tapes on the desk, and he was suddenly interested in listening to his mom’s tapes. He picked up the tape which had the simplest cover on it, putting it into the tape recorder and proceeded to open the lyrics book. 

The first song was called “24 Days.”

 _That’s a very strange title,_ Kuroko’s brows were knitted together, however, before he got the chance to take a look at the lyrics, he heard a soft and pleasant voice coming from the recorder; the voice sang slowly, just like a gentle whisper in the ears of a lover, and Kuroko came to like it almost immediately. He looked through the cover of the tape again, etching the name of the singer in his mind.

 _Akashi._  

After listening to the tape, Kuroko couldn’t help looking for the other tapes of the singer to listen. He didn’t have a picture of himself on the cover of his tape. Curious, Kuroko asked his mom while eating, “Mom, have you ever liked a singer named Akashi? Do you have his poster?”

His mom put her chopsticks down for a few seconds, raising an eyebrow at him, “Eh, why are you interested about it? Did you rummage through my things?”

When Kuroko shook his head quietly, his mom flicked his forehead, “Don’t want to admit?” 

“All right, all right, mom.” Kuroko gave up, “I listened to your tape, all right? Now, could you please tell me about it?” 

“I have. It should be placed somewhere in my room. I got his poster when I bought his tape.”

“Really? Which one is it?”

“What’s the matter? Do you like him?”

“…yes, I think? His singing is quite pleasant to hear.” Kuroko took his mom’s hand and led her to the room. When they walked in, his mom pointed to a black-and-white poster right away, saying with a soft voice, “That’s him.”

Kuroko looked in the direction of his mom’s finger; a handsome young man stared into the camera calmly with a faint smile on his face.

His appearance was as fascinating as his voice.

“But, how come he isn’t singing anymore? It’s been more than twenty years. Could it be that he’s changed his career now?”

Kuroko’s mom didn’t answer his question, only mumbling something along the lines of “It’s a pity.” before she went out of the room. Kuroko didn’t understand why his mom said that, but he could conclude that this Akashi must’ve been a man with a story.

He recorded the song from the tape to his phone, listening to it with his headphones. 

_I really want to know more about this singer._

 

The end of the summer vacation was still very long. His mom, who’d watched him do nothing everyday, advised him to go out and find a job. Kuroko couldn’t object to it, and circled around the town to find a recruitment, but he found none. And so, he decided to take the train to the neighboring town. 

At the entrance to a video store in the neighboring town, he saw a small blackboard sitting outside the store; they were currently recruiting temporary workers. 

Kuroko quickly walked into the store and saw an uncle sorting out the CDs on the shelves. He politely asked, “Excuse me, are you hiring for a temporary worker here?”

The storekeeper looked back at Kuroko, “Yes, we are.”

“That... Do you think I can apply?”

“Oh, why don’t you come and help me move that box of CDs over there?” The uncle pointed to a corner in the store, and Kuroko immediately skipped over to bring all the CDs out.

“A high schooler?”

“Yes, just finished my college entrance exam.”

“Oh, that’s okay. But, sometimes, we’ll get very busy and hold you back until late. Do you think you can?”

“I can.” Kuroko nodded rather enthusiastically, feeling somewhat happy to have found a place to work so quickly.

In fact, the work in the video store wasn’t very complicated. He just needed to help the storekeeper uncle to collect the money and tidy up the shelves. The video store was newly opened, too, so there weren’t many people coming.

After finishing with the CDs, Kuroko sat down on the small sofa in the store to take a rest. The storekeeper handed him a bottle of orange soda. “You’re not from our town, are you?”

“Yes, I’m from the neighbouring town.”

“No wonder you’re so unfamiliar. Our town is too small, so everyone here basically has seen one another, haha.”

Kuroko revealed a small smile, “But I think it’s convenient to have trains now, isn’t it? I’ll get here in less than half an hour.” he unscrewed the lid and drank a mouthful, and the cold sensation poured into his throat. When he raised his head, his eyes unconsciously locked on a whole row of tapes placed in the “check by listening” area of the video store, feeling somewhat weird. “Will anyone buy tapes now?”

The storekeeper followed his line of sight, and shook his head. “Oh, no, but some guests will bring the tapes they like so that I can help them record it again as a CD.”

“Is that all right?”

“Yeah, because some singers haven’t sung since then, the old songs are newly recorded.”

It suddenly occurred to Kuroko that he might as well ask the storekeeper about Akashi. He stood up and went to the shelf of the tapes, rummaging through it. Akashi’s 24 Days was in it. 

Kuroko smiled, picking it up and asked the storekeeper, “Manager, do you know this singer?”

The storekeeper assessed the tape he was holding up, “Him, huh? A long time ago, he used to be very popular.”

“Has he not sung anymore since then?”

“Actually, this matter is a bit strange to talk about. He never showed up again after his tour. At that time, the news reports were also making speculations about his sudden disappearance, but we never really found out about the real reasons.”

“But, he sang very well.”

“Yeah. Which was why his fans couldn’t accept it at that time.”

Kuroko took the tape and sat close to the storekeeper, listening carefully to his memory. However, the storekeeper seemed to brush off his curiosity, and instead, said: “If you’re really curious, you can watch this program named the ‘Melody Files.’ If you’re lucky, they might broadcast his lives and talk about him. Everybody used to idolize him so much, and I heard that the requests to play his lives are quite a lot.”

Kuroko didn’t push the matter, either. He just went back to the cashier’s counter and sat down, silently thinking, _why does everyone_   _seem to be stalling if it comes to the talk about him, unwilling to say it clearly?_  

Kuroko looked at the line of words in the lyrics book that was attached to the tape, there were a lot of scenes flashing in his head.

 

After work, the storekeeper reminded him, “You have to hurry. It’s estimated that the train will be the last one at this hour.”

“Oh? Oh. Then, manager, see you tomorrow.” Kuroko hurriedly grabbed his bag and ran to the station. 

On the train, Kuroko put on his headphones and played Akashi’s 24 Days.

For the past few days, he’d been listening to Akashi’s songs, and Kuroko came to a conclusion that he was slowly becoming too retro. 

Not that he was complaining.

The lights in the small town brightened up the summer’s night, quiet and beautiful. Kuroko went back to grandma’s house while humming a song. When grandma helped him with his bag, she told him, “Your mom went back at noon today. You should call her now.”

“All right.” 

Kuroko put down his bag, sitting on a rattan chair and gave his mom a call. Mom said that she had some work to do in the company so she had to go back first. Kuroko assured her that it was fine, and explained, “Mom, I found a place to work. Yes, at the video store in the neighbouring town.” 

On the phone, his mom asked him to be careful and always pay attention to his safety. Kuroko hummed, and bid her goodbye.

After taking a shower, Kuroko accompanied his grandma in the living room, watching TV. Grandma was listening with her eyes closed, and Kuroko had opened a bag of snack and munched on it while watching. The drama series his grandma was watching had come to an end, and Kuroko noticed that the next program was, unexpectedly, the “Melody Files” the storekeeper had mentioned to him today. There was a little excitement bubbling up in his heart.

“Welcome to the Melody Files. Today, we’re going to re-introduce you to a widely circulated old song, 24 Days, because we’ve received a lot of requests from this singer’s fans. Dear viewers, please don’t change the channels! It’s a very good song, and it doesn’t matter whether you were there when this song was popular or not, because this song holds a really meaningful story behind it…”

Kuroko’s heart was pounding. He himself didn’t know what he was getting excited about. However, the feeling was very wonderful. He was curious, but was quite afraid to watch him performing. 

The commercials were brief, and soon, the familiar guitar prelude entered his hearing.

He came.

The video was a bit blurry—low-quality; in the middle of the stage, there was a young man sitting while holding a guitar, singing to his heart’s content. It was quiet under the stage, and Kuroko’s eyes stared at the TV screen for a long time, following every movement of his figure.

He’d never been so fond of a singer, and had never put so much energy in someone else before. He wasn’t a male groupie, though he enjoyed listening to music, but he’d only appreciate the songs, nothing more. Akashi was the first person he wanted to get to know more, and it was quite odd; he was curious about a singer who existed more than 20 years ago. 

He wanted to know everything about him.

Before the song was finished, the host read the release date of the song and the comments of others, “A lot of fans were crying and calling the radio station to inquire about his whereabouts. They wrote a lot of letters hoping he’d come back. Some people say that he’s already gone, but more people are willing to believe that he’s going to meet the 24 days lover. The “24 Days” was the first original song of Akashi’s debut. He once said that this song depicted his first love. Although it only took 24 days, he’d thought it was probably the only time in his life that he’d fallen in love. If you like this song, please remember to leave us a message on our website. Then, we’ll see you next time. Thank you for tuning in!”

 

Tossing and turning on the bed at night, Kuroko finally got up and decided to record all the songs Akashi had sung to his phone once through, sleeping with Akashi’s soft voice as his lullaby.

 

Early in the morning, it began to rain heavily outside the window. Kuroko wore a raincoat and rain boots his mom had brought for him and took the train to the video store in the neighbouring town.

The storekeeper uncle had just opened the door, seeing Kuroko’s dejected appearance, he couldn’t help asking: “What’s the matter, boy? Come on, have you had your breakfast?” 

Kuroko nodded. In fact, he left too early today, and grandma hadn’t woken up yet. He left a note for grandma saying he went out first, so grandma didn’t have to prepare for his breakfast. As a result, all the way to the store, he became a little hungry, and his growling stomach, unfortunately, could be heard by the storekeeper who laughed at him, patting him on the shoulder. “You take care of the store, I’ll go out and get some breakfast. It might be a bit busy today. This is the only video store in this town, and today, a popular singer has released a new album. People who like him might come in line to buy it, hahaha. After all, I’ve got some autographs of him, too!”

Kuroko smiled at the storekeeper, taking off his raincoat and put on his work vest. He’d only sat down for a few minutes, and as expected from what the storekeeper had said, there were a lot of people coming to buy the albums. The fans lined up in front of the video store while holding up their umbrellas, chatting with each other.

“…eh, I heard we can get the albums with his autographs today!”

“…will we be able to see his concert next time we go to the city?”

“…his new album looks really promising!”

“…I’ve saved up for a month just to purchase this album…”

Kuroko silently listened to them chatting, suddenly feeling very familiar. Before, he used to get annoyed by this kind of people, but now, he felt like they were in the same shoes.

The storekeeper came back and saw that Kuroko was already sweating profusely. He laughed as he walked through the crowd, “Kuroko-kun, the Akashi tape you talked about yesterday, I helped you record it into a CD. Remember to bring it with you after work.”

One of the fans who bought the album heard Akashi’s name and asked Kuroko in curiosity, “Hey, little brother, do you happen to like Akashi?”

Kuroko could only nod blankly.

“Oh, wow! I saw a picture of him when he was a teenager last time in the web forum. I thought he was very handsome so I have it saved on my phone. Do you want it? I’ll send it to you!”

Kuroko blinked before he quickly pulled out his phone. Except for the poster in his mom’s room, Kuroko hadn’t seen any other pictures of Akashi, so he was a bit excited. The girl sent the picture to Kuroko’s mailbox, and as soon as he opened the mailbox, Kuroko saw a handsome face on his phone screen.

Akashi was smiling at the camera, revealing his white teeth, looking somewhat childish and cute. The color of his hair and eyes had captivated Kuroko; it was fiery red.

He was beautiful.

Then, Kuroko thought mournfully, why wasn’t he born in the same generation as him? If he’d had existed in the past, he’d have been able to see him sing live.

However, he was very happy to receive such a picture. After eating his breakfast, he was full of energy to continue his work. 

 

In the evening, when he was about to leave, the rain suddenly began to get worse, accompanied by the rumbling of thunder. The raindrops hit the ground violently. 

The storekeeper had advised Kuroko to just wait until the rain was getting less heavier. Kuroko looked at the watch—the last train seemed to be approaching soon. 

“Manager, I’m just going to run to the station.” 

The storekeeper didn’t agree. “It’s raining too much. I’ll drive you home.”

Kuroko put on his raincoat and promised the storekeeper that he’d be okay, and after a while, the storekeeper finally let him go by himself, albeit reluctant. Kuroko trotted all the way to the train station, and because it was late and raining, he was all alone in the platform. He decided to wear his headphones and tapped on the music app. His playlist would randomly play the songs, and the first song had happened to be Akashi’s song. 

Kuroko waited for a few minutes but the train didn’t come yet. He raised his hand and took a look at his wristwatch. It should be the time for the last train to come. Kuroko had thought that the train was probably delayed because of the bad weather and such.

Just thinking of it, he heard the sound of a train coming from afar. As expected, the train was delayed, Kuroko immediately felt relieved. He removed his raincoat hood, waiting for the train to stop in front of him. Once the door was opened, he hurriedly walked in.

There was nobody in the train, but Kuroko didn’t really think much of it. It was a small town, after all, so there should also be fewer people taking the trains. It was very rare to have crowded trains there, let alone this one. Besides, people were unlikely to go out in such weather, and such time.  

Kuroko found a place to sit and shut his eyes close, listening to the music attentively. 

The train would stop at every station, so the possibility of passing the stations was very small; it was very unlikely to ride past the stations, but today, Kuroko felt like he’d been listening to the songs for a long time. The train hadn’t made a stop yet, Kuroko opened his eyes and peeled off his headphones. He looked around, and found that there were only fields that could be seen outside.

_…eh, not in town yet?_

Kuroko stood up and looked for the emergency call button. He’d like to ask the terminal console what’d happened. He barely took two steps forward when the lights on the train darkened all of a sudden. Shocked, Kuroko pulled out his cell phone and turned on the flashlight. However, he didn’t know why the signal was suddenly being jammed. The phone screen was shaking violently, and it lasted more than ten seconds before the screen completely turned black.

The fear of loneliness welled up in his heart, Kuroko ran up in the dark train. The wheezing was especially clear in the empty train. The train drove across the fields, and went into a tunnel. Even the last glimmer of light out of the window was completely gone. Kuroko shouted as he ran, “Is there anyone here? Somebody! Help me!” 

No one answered him, only the sounds of the wheels ran over the tracks and his own breathing. The darkness was rather suffocating. 

Kuroko’s brain was moving at full speed. He was thinking about how to save himself, but the tunnel was long and seemed to be endless. He didn’t know how long the train had been running through the tunnel.  

In the end, he sat back in despair, lifting his head and not knowing where he was looking.

The raindrops dripped from his raincoat and made a ticking sound. It grew louder and louder, and then, came the sound of the heavy rain outside the train, thunder and lightning.

A figure suddenly appeared in Kuroko’s mind, playing the guitar with a soft expression on his face. Such an imagination had somewhat soothed Kuroko’s heart. 

He whispered his name to the air: “Akashi.”

The speed of the train was getting faster and faster. Kuroko’s body could feel this kind of momentum sensitively, and he shivered a little, a bit unsure if it was because of the cold or the growing fear. 

Suddenly, it was quiet all around; there was no sound of raining, and a strong light shone into the train, stabbing him, but he didn’t open his eyes. 

After a long minute, Kuroko gathered the courage to get up, and when he was about to open his eyes, he bumped into something—someone.

The man scolded Kuroko with vicious words. “Are you blind or something? Look where you’re going!”

Kuroko quickly raised his head and saw the man who had just scolded himself. An ordinary middle-aged office worker uncle, wearing some heavy windbreaker, staring at him with his brows furrowed. Kuroko stepped back in surprise, and accidentally bumped into another person. This time, it was a girl. She yelled at him, “Hey, you got my uniform wet!”

Kuroko looked around in horror, suddenly got himself surrounded by people. The train was crowded; it was obviously the rush hour. Kuroko walked past the crowd in disbelief, and everyone seemed dissatisfied with his behavior, swearing at him. He saw all of them wearing old-styled clothes, including the students’ uniforms. It was something that was seen only on TV many years ago.

He walked through one compartment after another, and everything was like a dream.

It felt like he was running through the dimensions, passing by unknown faces, until he arrived in the last compartment, which suddenly seemed to have no other presences other than himself.

It was as though he was being thrown to another dimension once again.

Kuroko was completely feeling desperate. He was confused about his current situation. He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know what it was all about. Was it an illusion? 

He turned his head to find a seat to sit down to calm himself, but his line of sight unknowingly fell on a very familiar face; an acquaintance.

_Well._

It wasn’t like it was an acquaintance of his, because he and that person weren’t familiar with each other at all. He’d never seen the real him. He’d only heard of him from the mouths of others, only listening to his old tapes. But the moment his eyes were locked on him, Kuroko knew, he wasn’t wrong; that person was definitely him.

That person was the owner of the name he’d called on the train before.

The person who, _supposedly,_ wasn’t the man of his time.

Akashi.

 

* * *

 

The flash came from inside the tunnel, accompanied by a rumbling sound and the oncoming wind. 

Akashi subconsciously stepped back. When the train stopped in front of him, and the door slid opened, he immediately went in—it was 8:20 a.m. 

He looked around for a moment. Because it was the starting station, the seats were all empty. He went to the last compartment and took a seat, taking a walkman out of his bag, he plugged the earphones in, amplified the volume, and closed his eyes. 

_Tick, tock._

Akashi suddenly felt the train shaking violently. 

 _This train must be_ _very_ _old,_ he lowered his head and opened his eyes slowly, only to see a pair of water blue rain boots appear in front of him, as well as a long, lemon-yellow raincoat.

Akashi raised his head, and found himself being stared at intently by a boy. The color of his eyes was like a bottomless blue, and Akashi felt like he was getting sucked into that blue abyss. 

The boy shook his raincoat and took a seat next to him. Akashi saw that he was soaking wet all over his body, as if he had just been caught in the heavy rain.

_Which station did you come up from? Aren’t I all by myself just now?_

Akashi was perplexed, but he kept it to himself. Thinking that the boy must’ve been in the bathroom or something when he came in.

Much to his surprise, the boy suddenly took off one of his earphones and tried to make a conversation with him. While the music in the earphones was singing to the climax, he said to Akashi’s left ear in the noise of his right ear. “Akashi-kun, I found you.”

Akashi stared at him blankly. “How do you know my name?”

Kuroko blinked, and suddenly let out a chuckle. His body trembled slightly, and the drops of water on his hair fell playfully on Akashi’s body.

He looked very young, and seemed to be about the same age as himself. Akashi even wondered if he was his classmate at night school. 

After a moment, he reached out to pull both Akashi’s hands, gripping them tightly. Akashi was startled by the sudden movement, but he kept himself motionless; he had no idea what the boy was going to do next, but his cold, wet fingers suddenly made his heart ache, and he couldn’t just shake them off.

The boy squinted his eyes, sighed, and told Akashi something incredible, “I’m your future fan, Kuroko Tetsuya.”

_…what?_

_Where did you come from?_

_Who the hell are you?_

_Are you sick in the head?_

Akashi stared back into those big, sky blue eyes that, surprisingly, seemed to have been filled with an underlying sadness.

And he didn’t know why there was suddenly a longing feeling in his heart.

 

The train stopped at the station located near his house. Akashi took his bag and stood up. The boy who called himself Kuroko Tetsuya hugged his arm all of a sudden, blinking, and looked at him with pathetic eyes. It wasn’t going to be a runaway, was it? Akashi saw that Kuroko had no baggage with him. Letting out a helpless sigh, he pulled Kuroko’s hand and brought him out of the train.

After his father went to work in another city, Akashi lived alone in his father’s house in a small town. During the day, he practiced the guitar and worked, and he went to night school at night. Taking Kuroko out of the underpass, he found that the ground under the street lamp was dry and had no traces of rain. Akashi unconsciously asked him: “Was it raining where you came?”

The boy made a somewhat exaggerating movement: “Yeah. It was a downpour, the rain bucketing down. That’s why I’m wearing a raincoat.”

“You said your name is Kuroko Tetsuya, right?”

“Yes. I’m Akashi-kun’s fan from the future!Kuroko Tetsuya.” 

There seemed to be starlight shining in Kuroko’s eyes, and Akashi frowned as he said helplessly: “It’s quite strange for you to say that. I’m not even a celebrity. How can I have a fan?”

Kuroko seemed to take no notice of Akashi’s words. He was just holding Akashi’s arm even tighter, seemingly afraid that Akashi was going to disappear if he were to loosen his hold. Akashi only deepened his frown and brought the baffling boy home. _He doesn’t seem to be a bad person, it shouldn’t be a problem, …right?_

Besides, he wanted to know if him saying he was from the future was actually true or not. 

He was quite curious.

 

Back home, Akashi helped him get a pair of slippers, and a smile appeared on Kuroko’s slightly pale face, “I didn’t expect you to be very gentle.” 

 _What a strange_   _boy,_ Akashi only shook his head. He put his bag on the table, and went up to the bathroom in his room to take a towel for Kuroko. All the way, Kuroko followed him around like an obedient puppy. “Here, dry your hair.”

Kuroko blinked, “No, I’m just going to take a shower.”

 _This_   _person really doesn’t take himself as an outsider, does he?_ Akashi stood at the door of the bathroom, “All right. Then you take a shower.”

Akashi saw Kuroko bouncing up and down towards himself, and suddenly stopped to stare up intently at him. His deep, sky blue eyes almost drowned Akashi, and, before he knew it, Akashi found himself being engulfed in a warm, tight embrace. 

Kuroko had buried his face in Akashi’s neck, and Akashi was quite taken aback when he felt warm liquids wetting the side of his neck.

_He’s… crying?_

Akashi’s eyes widened slightly, and Kuroko’s next words baffled him even more.

“I’m very happy to have met you, Akashi-kun. Please don’t disappear like what you did in the future. I won’t let you disappear. In this time, or in the future.”

Before Akashi could even react, Kuroko had quickly pulled away with his head hanging low. He saw him hurriedly skip over to the bathroom in a daze.

Akashi stood in place for a long time before returning to his room, looking for a set of pajamas and putting it outside the bathroom door. 

There was still so much work to do to get distracted because of Kuroko’s weird behavior, Akashi sat in front of the table, opening his notebook, and wrote a few lines when he heard the bathroom door being opened. Akashi unconsciously turned around and found that Kuroko was already wearing his pajamas, buttoned only two or three, and Akashi blinked the moment he realized that, considering his drenched body before, his underwear must’ve been soaking wet as well, so Kuroko most likely wore nothing underneath his pajamas.

Akashi scratched his forehead awkwardly, feeling somewhat embarrassed. “Sorry, I forgot to get you an underwear.”

“Huh? Oh, that’s fine. We’re both boys, so it’s not really a problem.” Kuroko waved his hand with a faint smile and sat down on Akashi’s bed. His eyes were slightly red and swollen.

“……” 

Akashi couldn’t find a word to respond to him. His set of pajamas was, actually, a lot bigger for Kuroko.

 _But… doesn’t it feel weird not to wear underwear?_  

Thinking about that, Akashi sighed and got up to lend Kuroko his underwear. The latter sat on his bed, took his underwear, and started to mutter. “You’re as conservative as an old man, Akashi-kun. Oh, I forgot. You’re _supposedly_ an old man in my time.”

“Come on, just wear it.” Akashi demanded as he went back to the table and continued to do his homework, completely ignoring his last remark.

It was almost twelve when his homework was finished. Listening to the sound behind him, tossing and turning, Kuroko didn’t seem to have fallen asleep. However, when Akashi looked back, he found that Kuroko had already slept soundly with his body buried under the blanket. Akashi stared at his sleeping face for a moment, and silently thought that it was kind of cute.

Walking to the side of the bed, lifting half of the blanket, and laid down on bed, it was quite inconceivable that he should lie on the same bed as the stranger whom he’d just met on the train for the first time. 

Akashi turned off the light, looking at the ceiling, and murmured to himself, “The future, huh? What will I be like in the future? Has the future me achieved his dreams yet? In the future—”

Akashi turned his head to look at Kuroko, who was sleeping peacefully next to him, “—will I meet you?”

 


	2. I like a singer named Akashi

Kuroko was woken up early by the rustling sound of Akashi’s constant movements.

A little too unwillingly, he rubbed his eyes against the glare of the light. Truthfully, he was still both physically and emotionally exhausted because of yesterday’s sudden occurrence, where he found himself being thrown to the long forgotten past all of a sudden. It was such a strange event; he never thought that such kind of thing, which he’d only encounter in the novels he’d read, would eventually happen to himself. He never thought that traveling back in time really _did_ exist — it was such a wonderful thing, and the greatest part of it, he was finally able to meet the singer whom he’d longed to see, Akashi, in person.

Kuroko glanced around the unfamiliar surrounding; the house looked quite old, but it somewhat felt exceptionally warm; comfortable, and he couldn’t stop his eyes from moving around the room until they eventually fell on Akashi’s figure.

Akashi was wearing a white t-shirt with his back to him. He was watering the potted plants on the outer window ledge of the room, with a soft hum rolling out his tongue. The glaring sun outside the window passed through the crevices of his t-shirt, casting a golden light on his body, and the lines of his spine were vaguely sketched. 

Kuroko made a small window with the thumb and forefinger of his right and left hand, whispering something along the lines of “Cut this out!” as he recorded this wonderful moment in his memory.

However, Akashi seemed to have heard his voice, because he’d quickly jerked his head in his direction. “Huh? Did I wake you?”

“Eh?” Kuroko blinked his round eyes. That way, Akashi thought that he somewhat resembled a harmless, innocent little puppy. “It’s fine, Akashi-kun. I have no habit of waking up late anyway.” he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, and hurriedly sat up, “That kind of reminds me, I haven’t really asked you about your name yet. I know your stage name is Akashi, but… is that really your name? I mean, your real name? Or… could it be that it’s the name you’ll only use to cover up your real identity? What is your full name? Can I know?”

Akashi was quite amused by a bunch of questions Kuroko had just thrown at him. He let out a chuckle as he gave him a simple nod, which was shortly followed with a shake of his head, “Yes, and no. Akashi is my real name. And my full name is Akashi Seijuurou. In fact, you knowing my name is rather strange. And also, why should I ‘cover up’ my real identity?”

“Akashi Seijuurou-kun, huh? Have you heard someone say that the name really suits you well because it really does! It sounds very cool, too.” Kuroko’s face instantly brightened at the new information he’d just collected. He couldn’t even hide his inner fanboy at the moment, “Have you forgotten, Akashi-kun? I’m your fan from the future. Of course, I’d have known your name. I don’t want to spoil it, but, one thing you must know is, soon enough, you’re going to be a very popular singer who’ll be remembered for a very long time. ”

Akashi only stared at him for a long minute, seemingly trying to read Kuroko’s expression to detect any lies. However, as much as he tried his best to look for it, all he could find was an inexplicable emotion flashing across Kuroko’s eyes, and he decided to just give up. “…that’s good, I guess?”

“Of course! Akashi-kun will be very much loved by everyone!” Kuroko nodded rather enthusiastically.

Akashi didn’t know what to reply. In fact, he couldn’t even picture himself being someone who’d be adored by anyone else, let alone having a group of people looking up to him as a singer. He did love singing, and becoming a singer was his biggest dream. However, being informed that his dream would be successfully achieved all of a sudden was kind of…

…weird?

Moreover, the one who’d told him about that was someone who’d claimed himself to be his fan from the future, and relying on his words alone didn’t seem to be right. He was torn in between trusting Kuroko’s words or just ignoring it.

In the end, Akashi waved him off with a shrug, continuing his task in watering the plants. Kuroko had followed his every movement, assessing him from head to toe, and he couldn’t abandon the temptation to ask, “This Akashi-kun doesn’t look much older than me. How old are you? Actually, you might even be younger than me. I’m 17 this year.”

“18.” Akashi put down the watering can on the ground, turning his body around to make a beeline for Kuroko. One of the corners of his mouth curved upwards, “It turns out I’m older than you, huh? Disappointed?” 

Kuroko held the urge to roll his eyes. “Only by a year.”

_You’d be surprised if you were to find out that you’re actually almost the same age as my mom._

“A year also matters.”

Noticing that Kuroko’s hair was somewhat curled up because of sleeping, which was actually quite funny, Akashi sat down on the bed, and casually reached out to help him tidy it up, “This looks quite bizarre.” he commented, and his soft touch left Kuroko in a daze. 

“…bizarre is a strong word.”

“Odd?”

“…that actually sounds worse?”

Looking at Akashi’s face up-close like that, Kuroko suddenly got reminded of his actions the night before, realizing that he seemed to have been pretty careless. But, that was something utterly normal every fan out there would do if they were to meet with their favorite idols, right? He was feeling very happy to have encountered Akashi, and his body had moved on its own. Besides, Akashi looked much more perfect in real life than he was in the poster in his mom’s old room, or the photo a customer had sent to him before, that he couldn’t help it.

But, still, looking back to the bold him who’d one-sidedly held Akashi’s hands, pulled him into an embrace, and even slept on the same bed as him had somehow made Kuroko a little shy, and he was beginning to blush.

Akashi’s hand stopped moving, and it stayed on top of Kuroko’s head. His deep, bright red eyes wandered about Kuroko’s face, catching the faint blush on Kuroko’s cheeks.

“Uh…” Kuroko forced himself to look anywhere but him, “Is there anything strange on my face?”

“Huh? Oh.” 

Kuroko’s voice had quickly gotten Akashi out of his stupor. He himself didn’t know why he was suddenly in a trance; was it Kuroko’s cute expression? The subtle atmosphere around them? 

Akashi’s gaze accidentally fell on Kuroko’s exposed collarbone and shoulder, and he couldn’t stop himself from helping him pull up his pajamas, causing Kuroko’s blush to deepen.

“Um, I’m not really well-behaved when I’m sleeping, did I kick you yesterday?”

“No. Don’t worry. You didn’t move around that much.” Akashi got on his feet with a small smile, intending to go to the kitchen. “I’ll make us breakfast. Later, I have to go to work, and also practice the guitar in the afternoon.”

Upon hearing that, Kuroko’s eyes lightened up as he hurriedly climbed up from the bed, and pulled Akashi’s t-shirt. “Hey! Can I go with you?” 

Akashi thought about that for a while, and he finally arrived to a conclusion that it’d probably seem very inappropriate to just leave Kuroko alone in the house. He decided to nod his head, and the moment he looked down at Kuroko, he became aware of the fact that he was still in his pajamas. The dirty clothes Kuroko washed yesterday had just been hung out this morning. And so, Akashi went to his wardrobe to find him clothes.

Kuroko was about the same age as he was, but this boy looked very thin for someone his age. Akashi also felt a bit strange whenever he saw him; as if he were familiar, as if he’d seen him somewhere before.

Scanning through the wardrobe, Akashi’s eyes were briskly locked on his school uniform when he was in junior high school, pondering about it for a moment, before he quickly handed out the set to Kuroko. The latter took the school uniform, giving it a blank stare, and he couldn’t help but chuckle, “Pft, is this your school uniform?”

Akashi touched the bridge of his nose in embarrassment, “Yes, let’s just wear it for now. You can find what you like today on the street, I’ll buy it for you.”

“I can’t believe I get to wear something that I’ve only seen on TV before.” 

Kuroko put the school uniform close to his nose and smelled a faint camphor wood — the same smell on Akashi’s body, and his pajamas; Akashi’s scent.

The beaming expression on Kuroko’s face, unknowingly, had made Akashi’s mind go blank.

Clearing his throat, Akashi just wanted to end the somewhat awkward atmosphere quickly. He ignored Kuroko and fled to the kitchen.

 _Bang, bang, bang,_ whoa, what happened to the heartbeat?

 

The breakfast Akashi made for both of them was very simple; it was only consisted of miso soups and rolled scrambled eggs. Kuroko still ate with relish, though, even when Akashi himself felt that it was a little ill-served. However, judging from Kuroko’s mysterious, and sudden, appearance, Akashi would like to take in him, rather than treat him as a guest. 

With that in mind, Akashi felt a lot easier, watching as Kuroko took the initiative to go to wash the dishes after they finished eating. He secretly thought, _this boy is quite sensible._

 

The weather was pretty good outside, and Akashi was walking in front of him when they left home, with Kuroko following quietly behind him, hopping and jumping to match Akashi’s footsteps, as he looked around his surrounding; the buildings, the people, the scenery — they all left him in awe. He really _did_ travel back in time.

At the station, especially during the day, there were a lot of people crowding in the platform, and Kuroko noticed that the train station was obviously different from what he’d seen before. He ran two steps forward, catching up to Akashi to whisper in his ear, “I’m giving you a sneak peek from the future: there’s going to be an oversized electronic screen that’ll play the wiring diagrams and schedules at any time here.”

“What’s an electronic screen?” Akashi turned his head to see Kuroko in confusion; a big question mark seemed to appear on top of his head.

Kuroko also didn’t know how to explain it, and wished that he hadn’t lost his phone. Instead, he said, “It’s basically the same as the TV screen; colorful, high-definition. But, the difference is that we’ll know what time the trains will arrive, or where the next train will be heading to. Definitely more convenient than now.” 

Akashi’s lips formed into a smile, “That sounds good, but I think it’s also nice to see the posters and notices in here, just like now. That way, people can find a reason to talk to one another, too.”

“…you really do come from the past, don’t you? Such an old-fashioned way of thinking.”

Akashi chuckled, “That’s right. Someone from “the past” like me can’t seem to cope up with you people from the future.”

“Oh, shut up.”

 

The weather in the early summer was about to start getting much hotter. However, in the small town, the heat didn’t feel _that_ strong, unlike how it was in the city. 

During the rush hour, the train, of course, would be full of people. There was no empty room at all; it was very crowded to the point of bursting.

As soon as Akashi got on the train, he quickly put Kuroko’s whole body between himself and the door, sandwiching him, in order not to get them separated. As the train started moving, it was slightly bumpy. Kuroko’s back would knock against Akashi’s chest from time to time.

 _This is too bad,_ Kuroko’s heart was pounding at such a close proximity. 

Kuroko tried to say something to Akashi, but he was a bit incoherent when he opened his mouth. “Uh, c-can you please move a little farther…”

Akashi bowed his head close to Kuroko’s lips, “Huh?”

It was his first day of spending time with Akashi, and Kuroko had asked himself to calm down. But, how could he calm down? This experience was something that Akashi’s fans wouldn’t even be able to enjoy, including his mom and the video store manager uncle. 

Thinking about it, Kuroko couldn’t help chuckling. Yesterday, because he was too excited, he seemed to have exposed himself to Akashi in a very shameful way, hugging him and such. However, because it was Akashi, his idol, Kuroko had supposed that it was definitely worth it.

Akashi saw Kuroko’s soft, blue hair sway around recklessly. Unconsciously, he licked his lower lip, and secretly leaned his face close to the back of Kuroko’s head. 

 _Well, the hair smells good._ Kuroko obviously had used his own shampoo, but why was it so fragrant?

 

When the train arrived at their destination, Akashi was still a little reluctant to part. _Hey, it’d be nice if the ride was a little longer._  

Kuroko went out of the train first, and after getting off, he turned around almost immediately to look for Akashi’s figure. Akashi quickened his pace towards Kuroko, staring at his hand for a moment, and he suddenly had the urge to reach for it and lead him along.

But, of course, he couldn’t do it. What would Kuroko think of him if he were to follow his instincts?

While they were walking side by side, in order to break the awkward silence, Kuroko coughed three times before he asked Akashi, “That… Akashi-kun. Where are you working at?”

Akashi breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Kuroko bringing up such a light topic to ease off the mood. He was enraptured to tell Kuroko about his workplace. “It’s a bookstore, selling novels, comics and stuff like that.”

“Hey, that’s good!” Kuroko blinked up at him, “But, I’m quite curious. Are you working because you have to support yourself? I mean, I didn’t see your parents around…”

Hearing Kuroko said such words, Akashi let out a startled chortle, “No, no. My father is still fully capable to raise me. He lives in the city now. I’m working there for the whole summer only. And I just like doing it, nothing more.”

It didn’t take long before Akashi pointed to the signboard in front of a store. “That’s right there.”

Kuroko silently observed the store, suddenly feeling somewhat kind of familiar. The moment he walked in, looking at the arrangement of the store; the furnishings, the shelves, the cashier’s counter — he was taken by surprise. 

Was this shop really not the video store that he was working for? Even the shelves in the “check by listening” area were the same, though the shelves weren’t consisted of tapes now, but rather, they were closely packed with comics.

The storekeeper, a grandpa who seemed to be in his mid-60, saw Akashi coming and greeted him cheerfully. Once he entered the door, he promptly introduced Kuroko to the storekeeper, with Kuroko hurriedly seizing an opportunity to help Akashi, and added shortly after, “Excuse me, is your store still short of people? I-I want to work here, too.”

The storekeeper grandpa looked at Akashi helplessly, saying: “Akashi-kun, are you trying to bring everyone you know to our store?”

Akashi touched the back of his head sheepishly, “Uh, the people I brought here before just came to read the comics. This boy, he…”

The shopkeeper grandpa looked at Kuroko’s expectant eyes, and there was no way he could refuse him when he was showing such an expression, so he had to nod his head. He also needed to have more than one person to help arrange the books, anyway.

Akashi led Kuroko to the back of the store to put their things, and also put on their work aprons. Because Kuroko was new there, the storekeeper grandpa didn’t have Kuroko’s formal work apron prepared; there was only an extra apron that his granddaughter would wear whenever she came to help in the store. 

Akashi handed the apron to Kuroko, and the latter stared blankly at the pink floral embroidered apron, with a huge rabbit printed on the front, causing the corner of his mouth to twitch slightly. Once he took a look at Akashi’s black apron, he somehow felt a bit dissatisfied, “There’s no apron like yours? If I were to give you this, you also wouldn’t want to wear it, right?”

Akashi smirked, “Well, I don’t really think I can fit it. However, on the other hand, you seem to fit it just fine.”

Kuroko ignored Akashi’s remark and decided to reluctantly put it on. It was his first day of working, and he didn’t want to complain to the storekeeper grandpa, after all.

Akashi had been secretly glancing at him from the corner of his eye, watching as Kuroko turned his back to him to tie the apron. The neat, beautiful bow knot Kuroko made had also caused Akashi’s heart to skip a beat.

 

* * *

 

With Akashi, time seemed to be moving faster, Kuroko had concluded.

Because Akashi had read almost every book in the bookstore, whenever Kuroko showed a little bit interest in the cover, he was able to give him a general introduction to the book. 

Kuroko’s line of sight suddenly caught a wine red-colored cover of the book on top of the shelf. He stood on his toes to reach for it, and looked over it with interest. Akashi had noticed it, slowly making his way towards Kuroko, “You like this one? This is Rabindranath Tagore’s poetry anthology. Although I haven’t finished reading it all, but I like all the poems he wrote.” 

Kuroko let out a soft hum, nodding, and opened up the page of the printed verse.

> _You smiled and talked to me of nothing and I felt that, for this, I had been waiting long._

After reading it, Kuroko made a conscious glance at Akashi, who had a smile on his face and was just looking back at him without saying anything. There was a soft touch in Kuroko’s heart. He’d never been in love before, and he never knew that, liking someone, this kind of thing could also affect the physiological reaction, such as shortness of breath and palpitations. And now, in front of Akashi, everything was well-explained. 

_There’s nothing to be ashamed of. I like you._

“Kuroko?” Akashi saw that Kuroko was deep in his thoughts, and tapped him on the shoulder lightly.

“Oh.” Kuroko blinked, putting up the book in front of Akashi’s face, “Would you like to buy this book?”

Akashi turned the book over to observe it. “No. This book is very expensive.”

“Is that so? Then let me ask grandpa if he can use this as my paycheck.”

“Just for this?”

“Yes, I really like it.”

Akashi pondered for a moment before he took his wallet out of his apron pocket and opened it, “Hey, why don’t you let me buy it for you? You should just keep your daily paycheck. After all, you still have to save some money to live in this place. You said you came from the future, though I don’t quite believe it, but do you people from the future use this kind of money?”

Kuroko assessed the banknotes Akashi had handed him. In fact, in his time, that kind of banknote had already been discontinued to issue about ten years ago. However, Kuroko’s family still kept some of it, thanks to his grandma who’d wanted to reserve it as her memory.

Kuroko supposed that it wasn’t very good for Akashi to just buy it for him, and so, he politely refused his help, but Akashi was still a little worried, “All right, you can use today’s paycheck. But, you have to promise me that you’ll save your paychecks from tomorrow onwards, how about it?”

Kuroko nodded in excitement and took the book to find the storekeeper grandpa. Unexpectedly, the storekeeper grandpa had generously agreed to let Kuroko use his paycheck for the day to make up for the book. He’d reasoned, “I didn’t expect that there are still young people who’ll like like this kind of book. I thought it was only people from my generation who liked it.” 

Kuroko could only smile, and continued to help Akashi organizing the books.

 

Once the morning job was over, Akashi was going to head to the place he was learning the guitar at. Kuroko hurriedly took off his apron and put the book in Akashi’s bag. “Wait for me!”

Akashi nodded, and waited for him to come out while thanking the storekeeper grandpa who’d helped him fetch the bike he’d temporarily left in the store. Akashi’s bike had no passenger seat, Kuroko had noticed, and if they were to ride together with it, he wouldn’t have any other choices other than sitting on the frame. 

A brief imagination flashed in Kuroko’s head; if he were to sit there, wouldn’t it mean that… 

…that he was going to be held by Akashi while he was riding the bike!?

“Uh…” Kuroko bit his lower lip, “Didn’t you say that the place isn’t that far? I’ll just walk along from here.”

“That’s true, but it’s going to be a long walk.” Then, Akashi pointed to the bike frame, “You can just sit here. We can go together.”

Kuroko’s mind went blank. “That... isn’t really good.”

Akashi didn’t react, feeling somewhat confused. _What did he mean?_

A thought suddenly occurred to Akashi that Kuroko might’ve been reluctant to sit there because he probably was afraid that it’d make it difficult for him to ride the bike. He shook his head in amusement, pulling Kuroko’s hand gently, “It doesn’t matter. You’re so skinny. You just have to lower your body a little during the ride.”

Hearing that, Kuroko could no longer refuse and had to sit on the frame. Akashi revealed a smile, putting his body close to Kuroko’s as he gripped on the handlebars, and whispered in Kuroko’s ear. “Are you seated properly? Let’s go.”

The camphor trees on both sides of the street had a strong, refreshing smell along the way. The sunlight penetrated through the shades of the trees, and left patches of light on the road. 

Kuroko’s back was attached to Akashi’s chest, and his warm body temperature passed through the thin school uniform to Kuroko’s back. Not only did Kuroko’s cheeks burn, but even his ears unconsciously reddened. Akashi, who occasionally lowered his head, noticed Kuroko’s slightly reddened ears, and a smile appeared on his face, thinking that Kuroko was very cute getting all flustered like that.

 

Kuroko seemed to have come only for him, and him arriving at this place, whether it was a miracle or a coincidence, was a very strange matter to think of. But, Kuroko’s actions gave him the impression that he was only focusing on Akashi in this world — or, just as what Kuroko had claimed, in this time. Akashi still didn’t quite believe what Kuroko had told him about the future. However, after digging the information about Kuroko, all he found was none; there seemed to be no trace of Kuroko in the past life at all. Akashi was puzzled, and he began to wonder if those strange words Kuroko had said were genuinely true.

 

Akashi had been practicing the guitar quite a long time now, because it’d made it more convenient for him to write songs on his own. Singers were good at singing these days, but they rarely played instruments while singing, and Akashi had thought that, if he later became a singer, it would be best to be the kind of singer who could also play the instruments. 

He brought Kuroko to the private music education institution he was learning at. He wanted to let Kuroko listen to him playing the guitar. Perhaps, “people from the future” would be going to have different opinions.

Kuroko helped Akashi secure his bag and sat in the corner, watching as the guitar teacher assisted Akashi when he tried to find the tunes. In real life, Akashi’s play was a little bit more sentimental; sounding even more heart-wrenching, compared to the “24 Days” tape. Kuroko could clearly see that Akashi was trying his hardest, and him looking all concentrated while playing the guitar appeared to be very good-looking, and cool in his eyes.

Once Akashi had finished playing, Kuroko immediately stood up to give him a standing ovation, clapping his hands eagerly. It was the first for Akashi to hear someone applaud him, so he was feeling a little flattered. 

The guitar teacher teased him, “Oh, my. A certain someone really likes to see our Sei-kun playing the guitar, huh.” 

Akashi could only touch the back of his head sheepishly. 

After that, Kuroko began to pamper him with praises. He couldn’t resist his excitement, and he repeated the words of praises that he could think of. After all, he loved Akashi for his music. And now, seeing the real Akashi practicing in front of himself, how could he not be excited?

Akashi stole a look at Kuroko, and found that his bright, blue eyes seemed to be twinkling. The smile on his face showed a hint of happiness. 

Akashi thought to himself, _do you like hearing me play the guitar so much?_  

 

During the resting time between the practice, Akashi quietly asked Kuroko, “You were so excited just now. What’s so good about it?”

Kuroko didn’t want to hide his joy. He just told Akashi straight away: “Because you played it.”

 _That’s right. It’s because you’re the one playing it, in front of my face, instead of watching you do that_   _through that program “Golden Files.”_

_Do you know how much I want to see you play the guitar with my very own eyes?_

Akashi reached out to rub Kuroko’s hair softly, “All right, calm down. If you really like it, when we get back home, I can play it for you at night.”

“R-Really?” Kuroko’s eyes widened in surprise, and Akashi couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Really.”

 

* * *

 

After the guitar lesson, Akashi rode Kuroko back to the bookstore to leave his bike there. He had to go to night school, and taking Kuroko with him would actually be very inconvenient, because it’d mean that Kuroko would have to wait for him outside the school all by himself until the lessons were over, and he was kind of disturbed at the thought of leaving Kuroko alone. 

Therefore, when they got on the train, Akashi directly gave Kuroko the keys to the house. “You go home first. I’ll get off the train at the next station to go to school.”

“I can go with you?”

“Won’t do. It’s not safe to have you waiting outside the school alone. It’ll be more reassuring if you just go home first.” Akashi patted Kuroko’s hand gently, “I’ll bring you some food when I get back. We also have some noodles at home. If you’re hungry, you can cook it yourself.”

Kuroko asked Akashi with a smile, “You believe me just like that, giving me the keys? Aren’t you afraid I’m a liar?”

“Huh?”

Akashi raised an eyebrow at him. In fact, he didn’t really think about that. Was it because people in the past were more down-to-earth? Or, was it because it was very easy for Akashi to believe anyone else? Kuroko also felt that Akashi was a bit careless in doing so, and was secretly afraid that Akashi’s modesty would someday put him in danger. 

Akashi scratched his head before he exclaimed truthfully, “I believe you.”

Those words were spoken by Akashi with no hesitation, with a serious expression adorned on his face, as though he really did have put his trust in Kuroko completely. 

Kuroko clutched the keys in the palm of his hand even tighter, and suddenly felt that the keys were heating up, very hot, burning all the way to his heart.

It’d somewhat warmed him, knowing that Akashi didn’t doubt him anymore.

Before getting off, Akashi pulled the book of poetry out of his bag and gave it to Kuroko, to which he hurriedly took the book, waving at Akashi. “I’ll be waiting for you at home.” 

Akashi paused for a moment, before he broke into a wide smile. After giving Kuroko a nod, he quickly walked out of the train.

 

When Kuroko returned to Akashi’s house, it was almost evening. The setting sun covered the small flower beds in front of the house with a faint orange color. 

Kuroko opened the door with the keys Akashi had given to him, and hurriedly snatched a pen from Akashi’s desk before he went back to the front of the garden. Looking at the setting sun, he opened the book of poetry to his favorite sentence, and then, wrote a few words at the back.

  

> _I like a singer named Akashi Seijuurou._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the comments, kudos, bookmarks, and hits! <3

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!


End file.
